18/01/07 in the week of Epiphany 2
[Please remember this is a sort of "menu" from which to select. No one has to read it all]
Collect
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grantthat your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ¹s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
++++++++++
Today's Scripture
http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/
Psalm 37:1-18; Psalm 37:19-42; Isa. 45:5-17; Eph. 5:15-33; Mark 4:21-34
++++++++++
Today we remember the Confession of St. Peter the Apostle
Psalm 23; Acts 4:8-13; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Matthew 16:13-19
PRAYER (contemporary language)
Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the Living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
Acts 4:8-13. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to his questioners, "Jesus is the 'stone that was rejected by you, the builders...' There is salvation in no one else."
If anyone knew this about God, it was Peter. First among the apostles, leader of the earliest church in Rome, the rock on which so many of Jesus' first
followers rested their trust--all this meant little when he refused to accept that this Messiah might be put to death, that God would suffer with his people. "Get behind me, Satan," Jesus said to him. Such a humbling moment must have stayed with Peter all his life, as he contemplated his own passage from stumbling fisherman to founder of a church. No wonder Luke has him preach in this way to the Gentiles in Acts. "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." Jew and Gentile, master and slave, men and women now stand on equal ground before God. In Peter's own time, this was a startling and subversive gospel, overturning every political, social, and religious expectation of the day. It is a gospel no less startling and subversive in our day than it was in his.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray or the Lusitanian Church. Pray for Christian Unity (The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins today through Jan. 25.)
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
++++++++++
Praying for Christian Unity:
'Breaking the Silence' is theme of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
[WCC] Traditionally, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is observed from January 18-25 in the northern hemisphere but in other parts of the world it is observed around Pentecost. This year's theme is "They were astounded beyond measure, saying, 'He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.'" (Mark 7: 31-37).
A complete version of the annual brochure jointly produced by the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Catholic Church) is available at
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/wop-index.html.
This year's Week of Prayer has its origins in the experience of Christian communities in the South African region of Umlazi, near Durban, a region deeply affected by unemployment and poverty but most of all by HIV/AIDS -- it is estimated that 50 percent of the residents of Umlazi are infected with the virus.
The theme of "breaking the silence" challenges cultural norms wherever matters relating to sexuality are "not to be spoken about." In Zulu, the term ubunqunu, literally "nakedness," indicates that these matters are taboo -- and this reluctance to break the silence is costing lives. For the churches in Umlazi carrying out their ministry under these circumstances, the "visible unity of all Christians" is far more than a theological concept. The churches can be and do become agents of healing only when they themselves are healed, when they are truly the
one body of Christ.
The human suffering caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other dehumanizing forces threatens to overwhelm the divided churches. Christians and churches can, however, break the silence, speaking out with a single voice and reaching out as a single body, acting with compassion and in unity.
Week of Prayer resources include an introduction to the theme; a suggested ecumenical worship service which local churches are encouraged to adapt for their own particular liturgical, social and cultural contexts; biblical reflections and prayers for the "eight days"; and additional prayers from, and an overview of, the ecumenical situation in the particular country which has prepared the material -- in this case, South Africa.
Further information: http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/wop-index.html.
++++++++++
Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
Be sure that the Lord will never forsake those who love Him when they run risks solely for His sake.
St Teresa of Jesus
++++++++++
Follow Me by Msgr. David E. Rosage
Get rid of all bitterness, all passion and anger, harsh words, slander, and malice of every kind. In place of these, be kind to once another, compassionate, and mutually forgiving, just as God has forgiven you in Christ.
Eph 4:31-32
St. Paul is quite imperative when he states how a follower of Jesus must be, but he is only reiterating what Jesus himself taught by word and by example.
Jesus, enlighten me as I ponder each word of this admonition, and assist me in translating it into practice in my daily life.
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Finding Solitude
All human beings are alone. No other person will completely feel like we do, think like we do, act like we do. Each of us is unique, and our aloneness is the other side of our uniqueness. The question is whether we let our aloneness become loneliness or whether we allow it to lead us into solitude. Loneliness is painful; solitude is peaceful. Loneliness makes us cling to others in desperation; solitude allows us to respect others in their uniqueness and create community.
Letting our aloneness grow into solitude and not into loneliness is a lifelong struggle. It requires conscious choices about whom to be with, what to study, how to pray, and when to ask for counsel. But wise choices will help us to find the solitude where our hearts can grow in love.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
(18) As well as the devotional study of Scripture, we all recognise our
Christian responsibility to pursue other branches of study, both sacred
and secular. In particular those of us who accept the duty of
contributing, through research and writing, do so for a better
understanding of the Church's mission in the world: the application of
Christian principles to the use and distribution of wealth; questions
concerning justice and peace; and of all other questions concerning the
life of faith.
Lord, without You our labour is wasted, but with You all who are weak
can find strength: pour Your Spirit on the Society of St Francis; give
Your labourers a pure intention, patient faith, sufficient success on
earth, and joy of serving You in heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"Retreats and Confronts"
For every retreat we should make sure there is at least one confront. We all should take retreats, but for some people retreats are an entire way of life. Every few months, they come out for retreat. It’s obvious with a lot of these people that they aren’t involved in ministry, with serving anybody else. They’re navel gazing. In the name of searching for God, they are actually running from God. There is no more effective way to run from God than to be overly religious, to be involved in pious and holy things for their own sake. A good balance between masculine and feminine energy is to balance your life between retreats and confronts. Make sure you do pull back and reflect in your solitude or in your prayers, but make sure also that there is some engagement, involvement, incarnation, some activity.
from A Man’s Approach to God
++++++++++
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
http://www.artsci.villanova.edu/dsteelman/tradition/sources.html
Support the companion of your pilgrimage
You are told to love God. If you say to me: Show me whom I am to love, what shall I say if not what Saint John says: No one has ever seen God! But in case you should think that you are completely cut off from the sight of God, he says: God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God. Love your neighbor, then, and see within yourself the power by which you love your neighbor; there you will see God, as far as you are able.
Begin, then, to love your neighbor. Share your bread with the hungry and bring into your home the homeless poor; clothe anyone you see to be naked, and do not despise your own flesh and blood.
What will you gain by doing this? Your light will burst forth like the dawn. Your light is your God: he is your dawn, for he will come to you when the night of time is over. He does not rise or set but remains for ever.
By loving other people and caring for them you make progress on your journey. Where are you traveling if not to the Lord God, to him whom we should love with our whole heart, our whole soul, or our whole mind? We have not yet reached his presence, but we have our neighbor at our side. Support, then, this companion of your pilgrimage if you want to come into the presence of the one with whom you desire to remain for ever.
Augustine of Hippo
++++++++++
Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict
http://www.osb.org/rb/
CHAPTER 4. THE TOOLS FOR GOOD WORKS
Jan. 18 - May 19 - Sept. 18
First of all, "love God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27)." Then the following: "You are not to kill, not to commit adultery; you are not to steal nor to covet (Rom 13:9); you are not to bear false witness (Mt 19:18; Mk 10:19; Lk 18:20). You must honor everyone (1 Pt 2:17)," and "never do to another what you do not want done to yourself (Tb 4:16; Mt 7:12;Lk 6:31)."
At first glance, of course, this opening paragraph on the instruments of the spiritual art seems to be a relatively standard and basic reference to a biblical description of the holy life. And that seems sound. The trouble is that it also seems strange.
The surprise is that Benedict does not call us first to prayer or sacrifice or devotions or asceticisms. This is, after all, a contemplative lifestyle. It is at the same time, however, a communal lifestyle for "that most valiant kind of monastic heart," who sets out to find the holy in the human. The call to contemplation here is the call not simply to see Christ in the other but to treat the other as Christ. Benedict calls us first to justice: love God, love the other, do no harm to anyone.
Renounce yourself in order to follow Christ (Mt 16:24; Lk 9:23); discipline your body (1 Cor 9:27);" do not pamper yourself, but love fasting. You must relieve the lot of the poor, "clothe the naked, visit the sick (Mt 25: 36)," and bury the dead. Go to help the troubled and console the sorrowing.
First, Benedict instructs the monastic to keep the commandments. Then, in this next paragraph, the Rule requires the keeping of the corporal works of mercy. Benedictine monasticism is, apparently, not an escape from life. This spirituality is life lived with an eye on those for whom life is a terrible burden. "Do not pamper yourself," the Rule insists. "Relieve the lot of the poor."
The monastic heart is not just to be a good heart. The monastic heart is to be good for something. It is to be engaged in the great Christian enterprise of acting for others in the place of God.
++++++++++
A sermon preached by Bruce Garner of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church:
Integrity Central Ohio
The Feast of St. Aelred of Rievaulx
January 12, 2007
Philippians 2: 1-4
Mark 12: 28-34a (or John 15: 9-17)
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
“You are not far from the kingdom of God” is Jesus’ response to the scribe who said to Jesus that loving God and loving one’s neighbor as oneself was more important than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. The scribe had, earlier in the conversation, asked Jesus which commandment is first of all. Jesus’ response is likely to be burnt into the brains of any of us who have been Episcopalians most of our lives – we heard it regularly in worship: “Hear o Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
As I read over this lesson in preparation to speak to you tonight, I could not get the phrase “you are not far from the kingdom of God” out of my head. What is it that makes us to be “not far from the kingdom of God?” It is the very same realization of the scribe who made it clear that burnt offerings and sacrifices were not important, nor were they the issue.
Loving God with all that we are and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves is what is important…as Jesus clearly notes….and it is in those acts that we find our selves not far from the kingdom of God.
There is an incredible simplicity to these two commandments. But we don’t seem to want things simple….do we? We want to complicate it all. Some want to put conditions on who it is that we are to love. Some conveniently forget that we are to love God with our MINDS as well as with all the rest of our being. We just can’t deal with the utter simplicity of what is asked of us. And then there are some who don’t love themselves very well and have no frame of reference for loving others. Can we relate to all of this? I’m guessing we relate to it more than we might be willing to admit.
Loving God is probably the easiest portion of the commandment for us to fathom and embrace. We’ve probably been taught to love God all of our lives.
We are called upon to put our faith and trust in God and in the belief that all will be well….at least within the time frame God allots….which may not always our own time frame. I also suspect we can wrap our heads around loving God with our hearts and beings….it may be second nature to us based on what we have been taught since youth. And we may still be able to love God despite the negative images of a patriarchal white male God figure that is sometimes less than comforting to us.
Now comes along the part about loving God with our minds. It was the very fact that I was told to love God with my mind that brought me into the Episcopal Church over 41 years ago.
And loving God with my mind means what? How does one love God with one’s mind? Isn’t all of this love business supposed to be from the heart rather than the head? Aren’t we to engage our emotions when we love God? Loving with our minds might imply reasoned thought and analytical processes rather than emotions.
My college degree is in biology and my college career was firmly rooted in the sciences. Perhaps in some ways, that makes it easier for me to embrace the concept of loving God with my mind. I’m accustomed to reasoned thought and asking questions, seeking out the why’s and the wherefore’s. For me even Bible study is an exercise in scientific method…although firmly grounded in prayer as well.
I am a strong believer in the concept that God gave us brains for a reason: to use them in the worship of God and to use them in the restoration of all creation to right relationship with God…however that might play out.
It also seems quite reasonable that God endowed us with brains for the purpose of using them. Otherwise, why not stop creation with the lower primates? I feel absolutely certain that the chimps and monkeys give God far fewer headaches than those standing on the human rung of the primate ladder.
Creation is a miracle to me. So what would be miraculous about providing minds that would not be used? If all decisions were made for us, wouldn’t we be little more than puppets under the control of a master puppeteer? Where is the miracle in that? I do not see one in such a scenario.
I look around at some of the issues with which we are dealing in the Episcopal Church - not unlike the issues of other faith communities – and have to wonder about the numbers of folks who never engage their minds at all in the worship or love of God.
The flip side of that is the concern I have for those in leadership roles who use their minds to manipulate others not to think for themselves at all. Perhaps that appeals to those who want their lives and the world laid out in neat and tidy patterns where someone makes it clear what is right and what is wrong and provides nice pat answers that are intended to satisfy those whose minds are not engaged much beyond parroting back that which they hear.
I don’t seem to have a life that fits into neat and tidy patterns. I don’t seem to ever have issues or questions for which pat answers are sufficient. I suspect that few of us have lives so simple. Part of the miracle for me is struggling through prayer and study to engage God and each other in search of answers to questions and solutions to problems.
None of us has all the answers. But together we discern as much of the truth as we are likely to know this side of paradise.
Love God with your mind. Maintain your faith. Ground things in the emotions of love. But love God with your mind….honor God through the gift God has given in the human mind.
The second of these two commandments is vexing to many because it sets no boundaries….it offers no conditions…it doesn’t give any exceptions…it doesn’t give any of us an “out” to qualify who our neighbor might be. We are not given any room for excuses. We are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves…period…end of discussion…just do it and don’t argue. But argue we do!
Well now I’m not sure that person is really my neighbor and I’m not sure I really have to love them because……and you fill in the blank with any and all exceptions that might crowd into your mind. Just remember that the exceptions are of our own creation…they are not in the commandment. As lesbians and gays and bisexuals and transgendereds and as simply those who are just seeking – despite the fact that we might want to NOT love certain folks – we don’t get that option.
It matters not how nasty and mean someone is to us or how discriminatory their behaviour is towards us or how much pain they cause us…we don’t get to exempt them from either our love or the love of God.
I will be the first to admit to you that there are those whose necks I would cheerfully grasp with my hands and squeeze until they turned blue…given such an opportunity. But that is wrong thinking on my part and I do not have the power to not love them as I love myself…like it or not they are my neighbor.
Instead of strangling them or calling them some less than charitable name, I have adopted the habit of referring to them as “that precious child of God” instead of referring to them in what may actually be a much more accurately descriptive term of how I feel. You know, I’ve found that my little tactic begins to work. I begin to see those I might despise the most as the neighbor I am commanded to love. And it is in that transformation that I can begin to glimpse some of the kingdom of God from which I should strive not to stray too far.
I will not stand here and lie to you and say that I don’t have uncharitable thoughts about the archbishop of Nigeria or about some prominent national politicians or some well known misguided evangelists.
But I will stand here and tell you that by remembering that I must love them as my neighbor in the way I love myself, I can begin to build bridges of reconciliation and understanding between us. It would be so much easier to just dismiss them….have I been granted the right to dismiss any child of God? No….even when they seek to dismiss me!
Remember that Jesus was also asked to define neighbor. That request was not made in innocence. The intent behind it was to find a way to exclude some from the definition of neighbor. And why do that? Well it gives an excuse for not loving someone because of some humanly inspired exception. We all know the story Jesus used to define neighbor. It was the outcast, the foreigner, the lowlife Samaritan who understood what neighbor really meant. The learned teachers and practitioners of the Torah missed the point and ignored the man in need. The Samaritan lived out the commandment when others failed.
The last line of our reading from Paul’s letter to the Philippians follows the same course when it admonishes us to look not to our own interests but to the interests of others. In doing so, we love our neighbor. Even Paul doesn’t put any qualifiers or exceptions in his instructions. Please understand that I’m talking about love here. I’m not saying we have like our neighbors! I haven’t read much about that in Scripture. I suspect that some of us have blood kin we don’t like….but we still love them.
Having spent all of this time emphasizing the lack of qualifications on who is defined as our neighbor, I must now admit to the existence of one very important qualifier, namely the qualification that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Do we have any experience in loving ourselves? Do we indeed really love ourselves? For some that probably comes easily.
But for those who have been told time and time again that they are flawed or broken or incomplete or unworthy or an abomination or unrepentant sinners, that is not always an easy task. When we hear negative messages about ourselves for so long, we often start to take them into our psyche and begin to believe them. All of the junk we are told begins to take a toll on our self image, on who we actually think we are, on our ability to even find ourselves worthy of love.
If we indeed do love ourselves, should we not also love ourselves the way God created us? Should we not love the self we find regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or even sexual orientation?
There is an old gospel hymn that I first encountered attending Southern Baptist churches until my early teen years. It’s actually in the Episcopal Hymnal as well…number 693. This hymn may be familiar to some of you…its popular title is “Just as I am.”
For years after I escaped the theological tyranny of the Southern Baptist Convention I despised that hymn. It was so often used as a battering ram to coerce worshipers to accept an altar call and make a public profession of faith. And if not enough people came down the aisle, the pastor had everyone keep singing until he was satisfied. There were times when it seemed interminable!
Then one day I actually read the words and discovered how very profoundly moving they are. “Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me. And that thou biddst me come to thee…O lamb of God, I come, I come. “Just as I am thou wilt receive; wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve, because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am thy love unknown has broken every barrier down; now to be thine, yea thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” I invite you to spend some time with this hymn and its words and seek comfort in the message it brings.
There are some who think we can only come to God if we repent of who we are. Yet I am convinced that we can not repent of the way we were created.
Some will also raise issues about behavior versus orientation, and to that I would note that left handed people were once considered flawed and attempts were made to force them to be right handed, to change them, to convert them.
We are indeed called to repentance…but no more so for our sexual orientation than for our hair, eye or skin color, or any other innate aspect of who we are.
The repentance to which we are called is aimed at whatever becomes a barrier between us and God and/or between us as children of God. That which interferes with or impedes right relationship is the sin, not our sexual orientation. That which interferes with us loving God and loving our neighbor is the sin…not our sexual orientation.
I frequently refer to the vows of our baptismal covenant when I want to illustrate right relationships. Respecting the dignity of every human being is an aspect of right relationship. Seeking and serving Christ in all persons is another aspect. And of course, loving your neighbor as yourself is yet another aspect. These are worthy attributes of any relationship, whether it be that of friendship or that of a covenanted relationship between two people in love.
Sin enters the picture whenever we allow those relationships to become exploitive or abusive…whenever we use other people, we violate our vows and exhibit sinful behavior.
So it seems we have come full circle: We began with the commandment that we love God and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. And we arrive at loving ourselves through the eyes of a loving God and letting that reflect our love of that God and our love of neighbor.
The person whose feast we observe tonight, Aelred of Rievaulx, lived and taught the commandments of love. The other Gospel reading for the Feast of St. Aelred – we were given a choice from two - contains yet another familiar commandment, but one that is infrequently quoted and apparently somewhat conveniently often forgotten. It comes from the 15th chapter of John’s Gospel: “This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you.” Note again….no exceptions, no qualifications.
May we strive to live out these commandments. And may we lovingly challenge those who would try to impose qualifications or conditions on the love we have been commanded to show. There is no basis for qualifications or conditions. In a paraphrase of the words of Rabbi Hillel: Love God, love your neighbor. This is the Torah. All else is commentary. Love God. Love your neighbor! Love one another. Love God. Love your neighbor. Love one another. No exceptions!
Amen
Collect
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grantthat your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ¹s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
++++++++++
Today's Scripture
http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/
Psalm 37:1-18; Psalm 37:19-42; Isa. 45:5-17; Eph. 5:15-33; Mark 4:21-34
++++++++++
Today we remember the Confession of St. Peter the Apostle
Psalm 23; Acts 4:8-13; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Matthew 16:13-19
PRAYER (contemporary language)
Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the Living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
Acts 4:8-13. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to his questioners, "Jesus is the 'stone that was rejected by you, the builders...' There is salvation in no one else."
If anyone knew this about God, it was Peter. First among the apostles, leader of the earliest church in Rome, the rock on which so many of Jesus' first
followers rested their trust--all this meant little when he refused to accept that this Messiah might be put to death, that God would suffer with his people. "Get behind me, Satan," Jesus said to him. Such a humbling moment must have stayed with Peter all his life, as he contemplated his own passage from stumbling fisherman to founder of a church. No wonder Luke has him preach in this way to the Gentiles in Acts. "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." Jew and Gentile, master and slave, men and women now stand on equal ground before God. In Peter's own time, this was a startling and subversive gospel, overturning every political, social, and religious expectation of the day. It is a gospel no less startling and subversive in our day than it was in his.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray or the Lusitanian Church. Pray for Christian Unity (The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins today through Jan. 25.)
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
++++++++++
Praying for Christian Unity:
'Breaking the Silence' is theme of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
[WCC] Traditionally, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is observed from January 18-25 in the northern hemisphere but in other parts of the world it is observed around Pentecost. This year's theme is "They were astounded beyond measure, saying, 'He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.'" (Mark 7: 31-37).
A complete version of the annual brochure jointly produced by the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Catholic Church) is available at
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/wop-index.html.
This year's Week of Prayer has its origins in the experience of Christian communities in the South African region of Umlazi, near Durban, a region deeply affected by unemployment and poverty but most of all by HIV/AIDS -- it is estimated that 50 percent of the residents of Umlazi are infected with the virus.
The theme of "breaking the silence" challenges cultural norms wherever matters relating to sexuality are "not to be spoken about." In Zulu, the term ubunqunu, literally "nakedness," indicates that these matters are taboo -- and this reluctance to break the silence is costing lives. For the churches in Umlazi carrying out their ministry under these circumstances, the "visible unity of all Christians" is far more than a theological concept. The churches can be and do become agents of healing only when they themselves are healed, when they are truly the
one body of Christ.
The human suffering caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other dehumanizing forces threatens to overwhelm the divided churches. Christians and churches can, however, break the silence, speaking out with a single voice and reaching out as a single body, acting with compassion and in unity.
Week of Prayer resources include an introduction to the theme; a suggested ecumenical worship service which local churches are encouraged to adapt for their own particular liturgical, social and cultural contexts; biblical reflections and prayers for the "eight days"; and additional prayers from, and an overview of, the ecumenical situation in the particular country which has prepared the material -- in this case, South Africa.
Further information: http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/wop-index.html.
++++++++++
Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
Be sure that the Lord will never forsake those who love Him when they run risks solely for His sake.
St Teresa of Jesus
++++++++++
Follow Me by Msgr. David E. Rosage
Get rid of all bitterness, all passion and anger, harsh words, slander, and malice of every kind. In place of these, be kind to once another, compassionate, and mutually forgiving, just as God has forgiven you in Christ.
Eph 4:31-32
St. Paul is quite imperative when he states how a follower of Jesus must be, but he is only reiterating what Jesus himself taught by word and by example.
Jesus, enlighten me as I ponder each word of this admonition, and assist me in translating it into practice in my daily life.
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Finding Solitude
All human beings are alone. No other person will completely feel like we do, think like we do, act like we do. Each of us is unique, and our aloneness is the other side of our uniqueness. The question is whether we let our aloneness become loneliness or whether we allow it to lead us into solitude. Loneliness is painful; solitude is peaceful. Loneliness makes us cling to others in desperation; solitude allows us to respect others in their uniqueness and create community.
Letting our aloneness grow into solitude and not into loneliness is a lifelong struggle. It requires conscious choices about whom to be with, what to study, how to pray, and when to ask for counsel. But wise choices will help us to find the solitude where our hearts can grow in love.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
(18) As well as the devotional study of Scripture, we all recognise our
Christian responsibility to pursue other branches of study, both sacred
and secular. In particular those of us who accept the duty of
contributing, through research and writing, do so for a better
understanding of the Church's mission in the world: the application of
Christian principles to the use and distribution of wealth; questions
concerning justice and peace; and of all other questions concerning the
life of faith.
Lord, without You our labour is wasted, but with You all who are weak
can find strength: pour Your Spirit on the Society of St Francis; give
Your labourers a pure intention, patient faith, sufficient success on
earth, and joy of serving You in heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"Retreats and Confronts"
For every retreat we should make sure there is at least one confront. We all should take retreats, but for some people retreats are an entire way of life. Every few months, they come out for retreat. It’s obvious with a lot of these people that they aren’t involved in ministry, with serving anybody else. They’re navel gazing. In the name of searching for God, they are actually running from God. There is no more effective way to run from God than to be overly religious, to be involved in pious and holy things for their own sake. A good balance between masculine and feminine energy is to balance your life between retreats and confronts. Make sure you do pull back and reflect in your solitude or in your prayers, but make sure also that there is some engagement, involvement, incarnation, some activity.
from A Man’s Approach to God
++++++++++
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
http://www.artsci.villanova.edu/dsteelman/tradition/sources.html
Support the companion of your pilgrimage
You are told to love God. If you say to me: Show me whom I am to love, what shall I say if not what Saint John says: No one has ever seen God! But in case you should think that you are completely cut off from the sight of God, he says: God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God. Love your neighbor, then, and see within yourself the power by which you love your neighbor; there you will see God, as far as you are able.
Begin, then, to love your neighbor. Share your bread with the hungry and bring into your home the homeless poor; clothe anyone you see to be naked, and do not despise your own flesh and blood.
What will you gain by doing this? Your light will burst forth like the dawn. Your light is your God: he is your dawn, for he will come to you when the night of time is over. He does not rise or set but remains for ever.
By loving other people and caring for them you make progress on your journey. Where are you traveling if not to the Lord God, to him whom we should love with our whole heart, our whole soul, or our whole mind? We have not yet reached his presence, but we have our neighbor at our side. Support, then, this companion of your pilgrimage if you want to come into the presence of the one with whom you desire to remain for ever.
Augustine of Hippo
++++++++++
Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict
http://www.osb.org/rb/
CHAPTER 4. THE TOOLS FOR GOOD WORKS
Jan. 18 - May 19 - Sept. 18
First of all, "love God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27)." Then the following: "You are not to kill, not to commit adultery; you are not to steal nor to covet (Rom 13:9); you are not to bear false witness (Mt 19:18; Mk 10:19; Lk 18:20). You must honor everyone (1 Pt 2:17)," and "never do to another what you do not want done to yourself (Tb 4:16; Mt 7:12;Lk 6:31)."
At first glance, of course, this opening paragraph on the instruments of the spiritual art seems to be a relatively standard and basic reference to a biblical description of the holy life. And that seems sound. The trouble is that it also seems strange.
The surprise is that Benedict does not call us first to prayer or sacrifice or devotions or asceticisms. This is, after all, a contemplative lifestyle. It is at the same time, however, a communal lifestyle for "that most valiant kind of monastic heart," who sets out to find the holy in the human. The call to contemplation here is the call not simply to see Christ in the other but to treat the other as Christ. Benedict calls us first to justice: love God, love the other, do no harm to anyone.
Renounce yourself in order to follow Christ (Mt 16:24; Lk 9:23); discipline your body (1 Cor 9:27);" do not pamper yourself, but love fasting. You must relieve the lot of the poor, "clothe the naked, visit the sick (Mt 25: 36)," and bury the dead. Go to help the troubled and console the sorrowing.
First, Benedict instructs the monastic to keep the commandments. Then, in this next paragraph, the Rule requires the keeping of the corporal works of mercy. Benedictine monasticism is, apparently, not an escape from life. This spirituality is life lived with an eye on those for whom life is a terrible burden. "Do not pamper yourself," the Rule insists. "Relieve the lot of the poor."
The monastic heart is not just to be a good heart. The monastic heart is to be good for something. It is to be engaged in the great Christian enterprise of acting for others in the place of God.
++++++++++
A sermon preached by Bruce Garner of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church:
Integrity Central Ohio
The Feast of St. Aelred of Rievaulx
January 12, 2007
Philippians 2: 1-4
Mark 12: 28-34a (or John 15: 9-17)
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
“You are not far from the kingdom of God” is Jesus’ response to the scribe who said to Jesus that loving God and loving one’s neighbor as oneself was more important than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. The scribe had, earlier in the conversation, asked Jesus which commandment is first of all. Jesus’ response is likely to be burnt into the brains of any of us who have been Episcopalians most of our lives – we heard it regularly in worship: “Hear o Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
As I read over this lesson in preparation to speak to you tonight, I could not get the phrase “you are not far from the kingdom of God” out of my head. What is it that makes us to be “not far from the kingdom of God?” It is the very same realization of the scribe who made it clear that burnt offerings and sacrifices were not important, nor were they the issue.
Loving God with all that we are and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves is what is important…as Jesus clearly notes….and it is in those acts that we find our selves not far from the kingdom of God.
There is an incredible simplicity to these two commandments. But we don’t seem to want things simple….do we? We want to complicate it all. Some want to put conditions on who it is that we are to love. Some conveniently forget that we are to love God with our MINDS as well as with all the rest of our being. We just can’t deal with the utter simplicity of what is asked of us. And then there are some who don’t love themselves very well and have no frame of reference for loving others. Can we relate to all of this? I’m guessing we relate to it more than we might be willing to admit.
Loving God is probably the easiest portion of the commandment for us to fathom and embrace. We’ve probably been taught to love God all of our lives.
We are called upon to put our faith and trust in God and in the belief that all will be well….at least within the time frame God allots….which may not always our own time frame. I also suspect we can wrap our heads around loving God with our hearts and beings….it may be second nature to us based on what we have been taught since youth. And we may still be able to love God despite the negative images of a patriarchal white male God figure that is sometimes less than comforting to us.
Now comes along the part about loving God with our minds. It was the very fact that I was told to love God with my mind that brought me into the Episcopal Church over 41 years ago.
And loving God with my mind means what? How does one love God with one’s mind? Isn’t all of this love business supposed to be from the heart rather than the head? Aren’t we to engage our emotions when we love God? Loving with our minds might imply reasoned thought and analytical processes rather than emotions.
My college degree is in biology and my college career was firmly rooted in the sciences. Perhaps in some ways, that makes it easier for me to embrace the concept of loving God with my mind. I’m accustomed to reasoned thought and asking questions, seeking out the why’s and the wherefore’s. For me even Bible study is an exercise in scientific method…although firmly grounded in prayer as well.
I am a strong believer in the concept that God gave us brains for a reason: to use them in the worship of God and to use them in the restoration of all creation to right relationship with God…however that might play out.
It also seems quite reasonable that God endowed us with brains for the purpose of using them. Otherwise, why not stop creation with the lower primates? I feel absolutely certain that the chimps and monkeys give God far fewer headaches than those standing on the human rung of the primate ladder.
Creation is a miracle to me. So what would be miraculous about providing minds that would not be used? If all decisions were made for us, wouldn’t we be little more than puppets under the control of a master puppeteer? Where is the miracle in that? I do not see one in such a scenario.
I look around at some of the issues with which we are dealing in the Episcopal Church - not unlike the issues of other faith communities – and have to wonder about the numbers of folks who never engage their minds at all in the worship or love of God.
The flip side of that is the concern I have for those in leadership roles who use their minds to manipulate others not to think for themselves at all. Perhaps that appeals to those who want their lives and the world laid out in neat and tidy patterns where someone makes it clear what is right and what is wrong and provides nice pat answers that are intended to satisfy those whose minds are not engaged much beyond parroting back that which they hear.
I don’t seem to have a life that fits into neat and tidy patterns. I don’t seem to ever have issues or questions for which pat answers are sufficient. I suspect that few of us have lives so simple. Part of the miracle for me is struggling through prayer and study to engage God and each other in search of answers to questions and solutions to problems.
None of us has all the answers. But together we discern as much of the truth as we are likely to know this side of paradise.
Love God with your mind. Maintain your faith. Ground things in the emotions of love. But love God with your mind….honor God through the gift God has given in the human mind.
The second of these two commandments is vexing to many because it sets no boundaries….it offers no conditions…it doesn’t give any exceptions…it doesn’t give any of us an “out” to qualify who our neighbor might be. We are not given any room for excuses. We are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves…period…end of discussion…just do it and don’t argue. But argue we do!
Well now I’m not sure that person is really my neighbor and I’m not sure I really have to love them because……and you fill in the blank with any and all exceptions that might crowd into your mind. Just remember that the exceptions are of our own creation…they are not in the commandment. As lesbians and gays and bisexuals and transgendereds and as simply those who are just seeking – despite the fact that we might want to NOT love certain folks – we don’t get that option.
It matters not how nasty and mean someone is to us or how discriminatory their behaviour is towards us or how much pain they cause us…we don’t get to exempt them from either our love or the love of God.
I will be the first to admit to you that there are those whose necks I would cheerfully grasp with my hands and squeeze until they turned blue…given such an opportunity. But that is wrong thinking on my part and I do not have the power to not love them as I love myself…like it or not they are my neighbor.
Instead of strangling them or calling them some less than charitable name, I have adopted the habit of referring to them as “that precious child of God” instead of referring to them in what may actually be a much more accurately descriptive term of how I feel. You know, I’ve found that my little tactic begins to work. I begin to see those I might despise the most as the neighbor I am commanded to love. And it is in that transformation that I can begin to glimpse some of the kingdom of God from which I should strive not to stray too far.
I will not stand here and lie to you and say that I don’t have uncharitable thoughts about the archbishop of Nigeria or about some prominent national politicians or some well known misguided evangelists.
But I will stand here and tell you that by remembering that I must love them as my neighbor in the way I love myself, I can begin to build bridges of reconciliation and understanding between us. It would be so much easier to just dismiss them….have I been granted the right to dismiss any child of God? No….even when they seek to dismiss me!
Remember that Jesus was also asked to define neighbor. That request was not made in innocence. The intent behind it was to find a way to exclude some from the definition of neighbor. And why do that? Well it gives an excuse for not loving someone because of some humanly inspired exception. We all know the story Jesus used to define neighbor. It was the outcast, the foreigner, the lowlife Samaritan who understood what neighbor really meant. The learned teachers and practitioners of the Torah missed the point and ignored the man in need. The Samaritan lived out the commandment when others failed.
The last line of our reading from Paul’s letter to the Philippians follows the same course when it admonishes us to look not to our own interests but to the interests of others. In doing so, we love our neighbor. Even Paul doesn’t put any qualifiers or exceptions in his instructions. Please understand that I’m talking about love here. I’m not saying we have like our neighbors! I haven’t read much about that in Scripture. I suspect that some of us have blood kin we don’t like….but we still love them.
Having spent all of this time emphasizing the lack of qualifications on who is defined as our neighbor, I must now admit to the existence of one very important qualifier, namely the qualification that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Do we have any experience in loving ourselves? Do we indeed really love ourselves? For some that probably comes easily.
But for those who have been told time and time again that they are flawed or broken or incomplete or unworthy or an abomination or unrepentant sinners, that is not always an easy task. When we hear negative messages about ourselves for so long, we often start to take them into our psyche and begin to believe them. All of the junk we are told begins to take a toll on our self image, on who we actually think we are, on our ability to even find ourselves worthy of love.
If we indeed do love ourselves, should we not also love ourselves the way God created us? Should we not love the self we find regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or even sexual orientation?
There is an old gospel hymn that I first encountered attending Southern Baptist churches until my early teen years. It’s actually in the Episcopal Hymnal as well…number 693. This hymn may be familiar to some of you…its popular title is “Just as I am.”
For years after I escaped the theological tyranny of the Southern Baptist Convention I despised that hymn. It was so often used as a battering ram to coerce worshipers to accept an altar call and make a public profession of faith. And if not enough people came down the aisle, the pastor had everyone keep singing until he was satisfied. There were times when it seemed interminable!
Then one day I actually read the words and discovered how very profoundly moving they are. “Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me. And that thou biddst me come to thee…O lamb of God, I come, I come. “Just as I am thou wilt receive; wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve, because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am thy love unknown has broken every barrier down; now to be thine, yea thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” I invite you to spend some time with this hymn and its words and seek comfort in the message it brings.
There are some who think we can only come to God if we repent of who we are. Yet I am convinced that we can not repent of the way we were created.
Some will also raise issues about behavior versus orientation, and to that I would note that left handed people were once considered flawed and attempts were made to force them to be right handed, to change them, to convert them.
We are indeed called to repentance…but no more so for our sexual orientation than for our hair, eye or skin color, or any other innate aspect of who we are.
The repentance to which we are called is aimed at whatever becomes a barrier between us and God and/or between us as children of God. That which interferes with or impedes right relationship is the sin, not our sexual orientation. That which interferes with us loving God and loving our neighbor is the sin…not our sexual orientation.
I frequently refer to the vows of our baptismal covenant when I want to illustrate right relationships. Respecting the dignity of every human being is an aspect of right relationship. Seeking and serving Christ in all persons is another aspect. And of course, loving your neighbor as yourself is yet another aspect. These are worthy attributes of any relationship, whether it be that of friendship or that of a covenanted relationship between two people in love.
Sin enters the picture whenever we allow those relationships to become exploitive or abusive…whenever we use other people, we violate our vows and exhibit sinful behavior.
So it seems we have come full circle: We began with the commandment that we love God and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. And we arrive at loving ourselves through the eyes of a loving God and letting that reflect our love of that God and our love of neighbor.
The person whose feast we observe tonight, Aelred of Rievaulx, lived and taught the commandments of love. The other Gospel reading for the Feast of St. Aelred – we were given a choice from two - contains yet another familiar commandment, but one that is infrequently quoted and apparently somewhat conveniently often forgotten. It comes from the 15th chapter of John’s Gospel: “This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you.” Note again….no exceptions, no qualifications.
May we strive to live out these commandments. And may we lovingly challenge those who would try to impose qualifications or conditions on the love we have been commanded to show. There is no basis for qualifications or conditions. In a paraphrase of the words of Rabbi Hillel: Love God, love your neighbor. This is the Torah. All else is commentary. Love God. Love your neighbor! Love one another. Love God. Love your neighbor. Love one another. No exceptions!
Amen
posted by Gloriamarie Amalfitano @ 9:58 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home